Paths with purpose

Nathan Grine jokes that his hometown in northwest Ohio doesn’t even have a stoplight.

Involvement through his high school’s 4-H program brought him to Columbus, and he began to see the benefits of a Big Ten experience in a big city.

Nathan is active with his scholars’ community, Residence Life and community service organizations. What once seemed big now seems as familiar as his small hometown.

“There are people who are like you,” Grine says. “But there’s so much diversity among the students at Ohio State to embrace.”

Ohio State intentionally designs spaces to promote collaboration on campus — and with our neighbors.

The STEAM Factory, an inviting, bohemian space with views of the Columbus skyline, has hosted 2,000-plus hours of faculty interaction to facilitate interdisciplinary work and find opportunities to connect with industries and communities around Columbus.

It’s where Kathy Malone and Zakee Sabree bonded over stink bugs.

Malone, an assistant professor from the College of Education and Human Ecology, was giving a one-minute presentation about revolutionizing the way science and math are taught to middle  and high school students. Lesson plans included the brown marmorated stink bug.

Sabree, an assistant professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, has investigated the evolution of bacteria stink bugs need in order to thrive. “I immediately thought, ‘I need her to help me figure out how to talk about this to kids,’” Sabree says. “She was happy to do so.”

A few months later, the two were working together and with area teachers to develop a modeling-based biology curriculum for students in grades 7-12. The new teaching approach is being implemented in 32 classrooms across central Ohio now.

Students are achieving greater success in science all because of a space specifically designed for connecting disparate disciplines. That, and stink bugs.

Nursing is a competitive major. So during her first semester as a Buckeye, Victoria Murphy took advantage of additional support available through her learning community in Park-Stradley Hall.

As a member of the Nursing and Wellness Innovations Learning Community, she had dinner with the dean of the College of Nursing, attended a session about the importance of diversity in public health and found study partners tackling the same rigorous courses as she.

“We all want to become registered nurses or nurse practitioners, and we motivate each other along the way,” Murphy says. “If somebody’s struggling, you help them out.”

That kind of teamwork and access to faculty are found in learning communities across campus and within the Second-year Transformational Experience Program. STEP has influenced the design of the North Residential District itself to improve student success and graduation rates.

Sushmitha Ravikumar lives in Torres House with other engineering and chemical engineering majors. She sees students with similar interests connect with each other and mentors in their fields of study. These are the networks that will support them throughout their education and their careers.

“You always have that school spirit of ‘O-H!’ and ‘I-O!’ But you also have that sense of helping,” she says. “Someone is always willing to help you at Ohio State.”

Standing in the middle of Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, Dr. Terry Niblack looks past the crops and dairy cows and points to the buildings on central campus.

“It’s just a short walk,” she said.

Not only is it rare to have a 261-acre working farm so close to campus, she adds, but it’s unique because this space provides an active learning area for students from a variety of disciplines, including environmental science, engineering and veterinary medicine.

“This is a chance to expand the classroom from the four walls to the entire outdoors,” says Niblack, the interim senior associate dean in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “Learning by doing is what we are.”

It’s not the only place on campus where students and researchers can learn by doing. From studying plant life at Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens to investigating the ecosystems that make up the Olentangy River, these iconic campus images provide hands-on learning opportunities while just steps away from an urban campus setting.